Tragedy north of town – In the wee hours of Sunday, Aug. 2, 1953, the combination of restless boys and a powerful car would exact a heavy toll.
The Milk House dairy bar (now the Bamboo House) on the northern edge of the borough was closed, several young men and their cars congregated in the parking lot. They were taking short rides, and checking the performance of their various cars.
After 2 a.m. seven of them piled into Raymond W. Harrison's '52 Pontiac and rode to the Milford paper mill and turned around.
On the way back, where the Frenchtown-Milford Road curves to the right a few hundred yards from the Milk House, Harrison went off the road to the left. His car hit a 2.5-foot-high, 8-inch-thick concrete abutment that helped to guide a negligible stream as it flowed under the road.
The immovable object stopped the car, which wrapped around it, killing or mortally injuring Harrison, 22, of Stockton; Kenneth L. Loux, 17, of Pipersville, Pa.; Harry Weaver, 14, of Erwinna, Pa.; Leroy Hart, 17, of Frenchtown; and Richard Manchur, 16, of Baptistown.
Two survived: a severely injured Jack Bittenmaster, 17, of Frenchtown and Harry Haraseyko, 17, of Locktown. They were two of the four boys in the back seat.
It was noted at the time that the five fatalities had exceeded Frenchtown's two deaths in World War II or its four deaths in World War I.
After that crash, Judge William D. Stem began suspending licenses for speeding offenses, a policy so effective that one court session had to be canceled for lack of violations.
Haraseyko threw himself into a campaign in memory of his dead pals. His careful-driving pledge was circulated on both sides of the river and garnered many signatures.
In March of 1946, a crash into the same abutment had claimed the life of Army veteran Benjamin Roe, 22, of Flemington. That abutment has been replaced by a big, foot-high blob of concrete, and a guard rail has been installed to prevent an additional tragedy there.
From "Rick's Frenchtown Encyclopedia"
Richie Manchur's funeral was the 1st one I ever went to as a child. His mother Mary and father Sam were good friends of my grandparents. There we lots of people there, and I remember Mrs. Manchur screaming. Richie had a brother named George and a sister named Jeanie. It was truly traumatizing. I was 6.